Wade Phillips: FIRED?

Wade Phillips, the Dallas Cowboys' Head Coach was fired Monday due to how terrible the Cowboys' have been performing. They're on a five-game losing streak and are 1-7.  The Dallas Cowboys are playing, in my opinion, their worst season since 1989 (they went 1-15 that year). They lost their most recent game against the Green Bay Packers 45-7. Quite frankly, I'm not really hopeful about their playoff potential.

Portfolio Reflection Sheet

Outsiders Narrative:

Description: It's a short story about why I wish someone had told me not to jump spiked fences. It tells the tale of when I went to Rockwood Park and had to retrieve a Whizzo Frisbee then tried to cut corners and eventually got stuck upside-down on a fence.

Why I selected it: It's well written and funny (at least I think so). I'm rather proud of it because I managed to write that pretty well in a very limited time-frame.

Strengths: The narrative is short and to point. It's pretty interesting and I think it really grabs the attention of the reader right from the start. I think it seems sorta bland during the middle section though.

What it demonstrates about me: The story demonstrates that I am unskilled at fence jumping and that I wore inappropriate clothing for the activity. It also demonstrates my willingness to socialise.


Children's Story

Description: It is a story about Savannah Sam and Ted Tiger who argue about whose dance is better. Eventually they decide to take the best of both their dances and make an even better one: the Feline Flamenco.

Reason of selection: I really liked this because I learned how to use Photoshop and a few other photo editing programs. I also really like the art style and the story itself.

Strengths: The story is pretty decent, although it could definitely be better. The images in the story are excellent, but a lot of people thought they were funny and that wasn't the vibe I was going for. So I would definitely spend more time trying to make the illustrations reflect what I mean better.

What it demonstrates about me: It demonstrates that I can learn new skills quickly and that I love dancing and picking out cool names (Tiger Tango, Savannah Samba, Feline Flamenco).


How to: DIY composting boxes
Description: It is a very detailed guide on how to build a wood compost box. It has several pictures      (High-Res) and several VERY useful tips that I learned from building the boxes myself.

Reason: I picked this guide because I really liked building the box and I really wanted to show other peoples how to do it.

Strengths: The guide is very detailed and accurate. It has a lot of pictures that really help explain how to build the box.

What it demonstrates about me: It demonstrates my ability to build things and explain what I did. It also demonstrates a very good memory (I built the box nearly a month ago).

The Outsiders Narrative

I Wish Someone had told me...

Never Jump a Pointy Metal Fence

          It was a chilly day in mid-January. I was walking around Rockwood Park with my neighbor and her dog when we noticed that there was a fenced-in dog-area. We decided to check it out.

         Turns out it was a decent-sized area with benches around the perimeter, so we let the dog run around a bit and socialise with the other animals.

         After chatting with some of the other dog-lovers, one of them whipped out a Wizzo (a part fabric, part plastic Frisbee) and we started throwing it around. The wind started to pick up, and so someone eventually threw it over the fence. I offered to go get it and walked out of the play area.

         It was an awfully long walk around the outside of the dog-zone. I eventually lost sight of the people and the dogs due to a bunch of trees.

        When I finally got to the spot where the Wizzo had landed, I discovered that someone had jumped the fence and brought it back already. So I started walking back.

        After a few minutes I decided that I should just jump the fence. Bad idea. About five seconds later, I was hanging by my back pocket (or so I thought at the time) on a spike at the top of the fence. I then heard a massive ripping sound and i fell about three feet. Most of the back side of my pants had been ripped off and there was a nasty cut down the back of my leg.

        Apparently, the wind decided to kick it up a notch just as I realised how 'exposed' I was. So we walked back to the car (a good three and a half clicks away) while blood trickled from the back of my leg to what was left of my pants. No more spike fence jumping for me.

Composting Mixes

Composting is an excellent way to help bolster the growth any kind of plant. There are several different types of compost mixes and your best bet is the Aerobic kind.

The Basics: When carbon is oxidized to CO2, a large amount of energy is released as heat. For example, if a gram of glucose molecules is composted under aerobic conditions, 500 or so kilogram calories (kcal) of heat can be created. If organic material is in a large enough pile or arranged to provide some insulation, temperatures during decomposition may rise to over 170° F. At temperatures above 160° F, however, the bacterial activity decreases.

The high temperatures kills bacteria and one-celled organism that are bad for your health and for agriculture.

Aerobic compost is composting with air. Many peoples and websites will say that you must turn your compost pile frequently to  keep the microorganisms decomposing the compost from dying, but this isn't always true. Manual turning takes a lot of effort and only increase air circulation by about 15% and only for a very short amount of time. So, to avoid manual turning, it's all in the mix.

The ideal mix (for me at least) is (from the ground up): 4'' of kitchen/garden waste under 2'' of soil/manure under 1'' of minerals/granite dust/horticultural lime. If want to air it out more, grab a pipe and run a few shafts down into your compost. Use a hairdryer to blow hot air into the pipe(s)  then remove the pipes. If the compost starts to smell, throw some soil on it. 

DIY Compost bins

Thinking of starting to grow your own food or need to kick start your plants' growth? Home-made compost is what you need.

There are three steps to making compost.

1. Compost box/container

2. Compost Mix

3. Composting

Today I'll be covering the first step, which is to create the box. There are several types of different boxes, but the best (at least in my opinion) is the wood and wire box. To build a 2x2x2 composting box, you will need:

-5-6 8-foot 2x4s (non-arsenic pressure treated, cedar or stained)

-Around 10 square feet of hardware cloth

-100 3" Robertson wood screws

-100 2" Robertson wood screws

-250 staples

-Staple Gun

-Screwdriver (preferably a power-tool though)

-Drill

-Small drill bit (for pre-drilling holes)

-Saw (preferably a table saw or a circular saw)

-Wire-Cutters (or anything else that can cut through hardware cloth)

-Some good music

There are a couple things you should be mindful of while making the boxes, I learned these while making mine.

• ALWAYS pre-drill holes
• Soak your drill-bit in water before touching it
• Do not fight the wood, a bit of muscle is O.K., but don't try to screw through knots
• Wear safety goggles
• Be very careful with the hardware cloth
• Measure twice, cut once, then measure again
• Don't try to unjam the staple gun while the safety's off
• Take notes so that you next box is even better
• Keep you sawdust for composting
• It doesn't have to be perfect.



The screws MUST go in on
 opposite sides



Make sure you cuts are as
precise as possible

The first thing you need to do is measure out 2 foot lengths on your 2x4s. Use something to give you a 45 degree angle like in the top picture. We're gonna do 45 degree cuts so the board will be cut like this the image to the left. The distance between the two farthest parts should be 2 feet. Once you have four pieces, you're gonna want to assemble your first frame. To do this you must line up two of the 45 degree cuts and put one 2'' screw about half an inch from the corner and one 3'' screw about half an inch from the 2'' screw into the frame. The screws MUST go through both sides of the opposite boards, and not just one set of screws on each of the far corners of the boards (See picture number 3, on the right side). Once the first frame is put together, you're gonna want to do the same thing 3 more times to create the other frames (ONLY THREE MORE TIMES, the bottom is different).



 



The completed frames

 Once you have your four frames, you will have to make the wire-mesh for it. First, measure the gap in between the wood in your frame, then add 2 inches to that number both ways. so if your frame is 22''x 26'', you will cut a 24''x28'' piece of hardware cloth. Be careful cutting the wire, it's very easy to get cut. Once you have cut the cloth, staple it to the frame (staple it to the ugliest side of the frame, it's going to be the inside of the box) using the staple gun. Once you've finished the first, just repeat it three more times.



NOT LIKE THIS



Like This



Once the frames are completed, you will have to get them together. Line up the frames as shown in the picture and screw EXACTLY as show. Once you have done both top and bottom on both sides, you are ready attach the bottom piece.


 

Hardware cloth cut and ready to be
tacked on 

You simply want to do the same as the hardware cloth step, measuring the gap and adding two inches and attaching the cloth to the bottom of the box. This is to aid in the turning (if you choose to turn your compost, although it isn't necessary).  To reinforce the box, run 3 or 4 pieces of 2x4 along the bottom (from ground up it goes 2x4, hardware cloth, frame).



Reinforcing the bottom of the box



You can make several of these to increases the speed of your composting. I just posted about aerobic compost mix, so that's definitly the best place to find step 2 of the project. 









If you have any questions or are in need of further
information contact me at (click) or comment and I will
get back to you as soon asas possible